This application relates to traffic safety delineators, and more particularly to l improved support base element therefor, as well as to traffic safety delineators having improved gripping and stacking features.
Traffic safety delineators are extensively used at the present time to delineate potential driving hazards, such as construction zones, potholes, etc., as well as to channelize traffic past such hazards. They are often used, as well, on sidewalks, bicycle paths, parking lots, indoor shopping malls, and the like to alert passersby to potential dangers, whatever the mode of transportation.
Traffic safety delineators having a conical or tubular structure are particularly widely used, and are commonly referred to as traffic safety cones or traffic safety tubes, respectively. Although they may comprise only a freestanding conical or tubular body portion, they more typically include a separable weighted base as well, in order that the body portion may be stably supported in the wind gusts which are typically generated by high speed traffic, as well as by natural weather patterns. Prior art bases are typically fabricated of a solid material, such as rubber, in order to provide adequate weight to anchor the delineator body, which is typically molded of a resilient plastic.
Both traffic safety cones and traffic safety tubes are designed to be temporary and portable, so are frequently lifted and transported from place to place, either within a single construction site as the construction project progresses, or between different sites. Thus, it is important that the temporary markers be easy and convenient to pick up. Unfortunately, however, prior art cones and tubes typically ha no means for being conveniently gripped, and are usually just lifted by attempting to grab the conical or tubular body portion itself. With the support base attached, the delineator can be quite heavy and awkward, and thus difficult and tiresome to pick up without a proper grip. Loss of one's grip on the delineator body as it is being carried, so that the delineator is inadvertently dropped, is a recurrent problem.
Several prior art designs have been developed to attempt to provide a handle for picking up such structures. For example, a traffic safety cone having a bail handle, like that of a pail, extending from the top thereof is known in the prior art. Also, both traffic safety tubes and cones are presently available which have a T-top handle extending from the top thereof. Such a handle may be used to carry the tube or cone by grasping the T-top with one's fingers. However, neither type of handle is fully satisfactory in providing a convenient means for easily grasping and picking up a cone or tube, since they do not permit a comfortable, full hand grip, and tend to pinch and cramp the user's fingers over time.
Another problem with traffic safety cones results from the common practice of stacking the cones when storing or transporting them. Obviously, stacking the cones is advantageous because of the space which is saved and because of the increased number of cones which may be transported at one time. However, as one cone is dropped downwardly over another one in a stacking relationship, they tend to stick and jam together, because of the interfering contact between their respective sidewalls. This problem is aggravated in warm weather, when the cone sidewall material tends to expand and increase the interfering contact. Once jammed, they can be difficult to separate, and the tedious process of doing so can be labor intensive and result in downtime and frustration for the construction crew.
There are additional disadvantages with respect to the prior art weighted support bases, which are used to anchor the safety cone or tube body. Two types of bases are known. As discussed above, bases molded of solid rubber or similar resilient materials are the most prevalent, and simply comprise an octagonally shaped base element having a mounting aperture extending therethrough in order to receive and support the delineator body. This type of support base is durable, but is relatively expensive. Also, there is no provided means for lifting it to move it to a new location, other than merely to grab it with one or both hands and pick it up.
A second type of prior art weighted base is typically molded of lightweight plastic, d then ballasted, usually by filling with sand or the like. In some versions, water has been used as the ballast. Again, there is no provided means for lifting this kind of prior art base. As known in the art, such a base has a fill aperture with a resealable closure and is adapted to be filled by the end user before being placed into service. While a base of this type is considerably cheaper to manufacture than a solid material base, it is laborious to service, and typically vulnerable to damage when driven over by a vehicle. This is because it is difficult in practice to completely fill the base with ballast material, such that no voids remain in the ballast chamber. Thus, when a vehicle drives over the base element, the walls of the base element respond by caving inwardly, causing crush damage at any edge or corner and also where any void within the ballast chamber exists, because the ballast material is not present to provide rigidity and internal support to the chamber walls.